Louise Despont (b. 1983, New York, NY) explores the ways in which the fabric of our material world is intrinsically interwoven with the forms and forces of the invisible world. Botanic, geologic, and animalic forms of sentience and understanding are at the center of her works—in which Despont considers the spaces of communion and the various dialects of correspondence that embody other forms of consciousness. While her earlier drawings were focused on the themes of polarity and vibration—as related to pattern, sound, healing, and homeopathy—her recent works are deeply aligned with the hermetic principle of correspondence—as above, so below—which limns the elemental connection between different states of consciousness, or planes of existence, and shows how they affect one another by creating a resonant bond.
A consummate draftsman, Despont has historically used architectural stencils, graphite, and colored pencils on antique ledger book paper to create works that have been described as “meticulously executed, delicate drawings that hover between sacred geometry, esoteric symbols, and essentialized forms.” Over the past several years, however, the artist has shifted to working in collage—using botanical illustrations, architectural lithographs, and marbled endpapers—and then drawing the collages on antique canvas. In the process, she still engages the techniques learned from using pencil on paper—working methodically and meditatively with progressive layers of rubbed and sanded pigment.
Louise Despont received her BA in Art Semiotics at Brown University in 2006. Her work can be found in the public collec- tions of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; RISD Museum, Providence, amongst others.
